Iowa Nursing Students- HELP!!!

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Hey, allnurse! This is going to be my first post, and it is a rather important one to me.

I live in Iowa and am currently applied to Hawkeye Community College, Kirkwood CC, and Kaplan University. Assuming I am accepted into their the programs, as in I will start clinicals in the fall, which one should I attend? I hear conflicting information about the colleges. I first heard that Kirkwood had the worst nursing program in Iowa, then someone told me that Hawkeye's ADN graduation rate was so low that they got invetigated for not teaching the right information. THEN I hear that Kaplan Accrediation doesn't carry from state to state. But once I talk to students who graduated from these programs and get their stories, their experiences appeal to me, although only the one that graduated from Hawkeye disputed the nasty stuff I heard about their program.

I have a great number of gen. eds./ non-ADN classes DONE and as such most of the schools tell me I am at the front of the line to get into their nursing programs.

And I know NICC has one of the best nursing programs, but it's waiting list is up to three years last time I checked.

So can any students/ people in the know about any of the aforementioned programs PLEASE weigh in with their opinions? It would be greatly appreciated!

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I live in the QCA and go to Scott Community College. The RN program is hard, but a great college to go to. The instructors start making you critically think immediately. And the cost of the community college is cheaper then other schools that I looked into.

Another way to decide is go to the hospital and ask RNs where they went to school at. if you find what school is prodominantly hired, you will have a good idea what the community thinks the good new graduates are at. I know around here even though, we have Trinity, Blackhawk, St. Ambrose, Scott, and Kaplan. the main poole of new graduates hired by the hospital I work for are from Scott.

I live in Manchester, IA (it's about 35 minutes west of Dubuque.) Your information did open up the thought for SCC! I have talked to those who work at hospitals I like and they say usually a hospital will throw away an application if they see you graduated at Kirkwood.

I took my first 2 years at Hawkeye, not in the nursing program, but I'm in a BSN program now. My mom works there as well, so I'm pretty familiar with Hawkeye. I've had several friends in the program and taken a lot of the same classes...my friends always have good things to say and the teachers are pretty great! I really enjoyed the college as a whole, they have their act together it seems like. I've had friends at Kirkwood and Kaplan as well, and have heard nothing except complains regarding the colleges and the nursing program. Good luck with your decision!

I'm currently a year into the ADN program at Kirkwood Community College, and while there have been some frustrating aspects of my time here, I'm really happy with the knowledge that I've gained so far and with the experiences I've had. I'm also a nontraditional student currently enrolled in the Evening/Weekend program.

If you're unsure about where to go, I would encourage you to visit each of the campuses to get a feel for what you'll find there. Meet with faculty if you can, and figure out what kind of financial aid each institution will offer you, as it's going to be different from school to school. Make sure you're making a fully-informed decision, rather than relying on gossip secondhand from people who may have had a stilted experience at the school.

As for Kirkwood students being ruled out without being considered at all, that's obviously not true. I've got friends at several stages of the nursing program who aren't having problems finding jobs. I'd suggest researching placement rates for each of your prospective schools, to get concrete information. All of the admissions offices should have that data available to you.

I'm a year into Kirkwood's nursing program as well (day student here though). I have met many nurses who have graduated from Kirkwood and who are happy with their education- they are all employed at a variety of places, including hosptials.